Final Queens: Sidney Prescott

“Between the movie and the book, people know the truth. Let’s get on with our lives, there’s been enough exposure. Why would you want anymore?” -Sidney Prescott.

When dealing with a slasher who is a masked figure we typically find one lunatic in a mask terrorizing the lives of many, but in the case of the Scream series we find many lunatics in a mask terrorizing the life of just one. That one person is Sidney Prescott and she is THE final girl of the 90’s.

Sidney Prescott was born March 14, 1979 to Maureen Prescott (neé Roberts) and Neil Prescott in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California. Growing up it seemed like Sidney had the perfect life. Loving parents, caring and supportive friends in a relatively safe small town. This was until tragedy struck when she was 16 years old. One night during her junior year her mother Maureen was found raped and murdered.

Initially the authorities believed that Woodsboro local Cotton Weary was responsible for Maureen’s brutal murder, as it was discovered that they were having an affair, much to Sidney’s heartbreak and denial. The claims were further exasperated when news reporter Gale Weathers wrote a book about the murder reinforcing Cotton Weary’s claims of being innocent. Sidney and her father Neil struggle to piece their lives back together, but were successful at doing so.

One year after the murder of Maureen Prescott a killing spree started in which a killer in a Ghostface mask began killing people associated with Sidney and her friends in Woodsboro. The older brother of Sidney’s best friend Tatum Riley, Dewey, who was the town deputy became Sidney’s surrogate protector during this time. The killing spree became known as the Woodsboro Murders and it opened new wounds for Sidney as it was revealed that the killer was Sidney’s then boyfriend Billy Loomis and his best friend Stu Macher. The duo also admitted to killing Sidney’s mother and framing Cotton Weary and that the whole spree was in retaliation to Sidney’s mother having an affair with Billy’s father and breaking up his family.

With the help of Gale Weathers, Sidney and her friend Randy Meeks survived when Sidney and Gale killed Billy and Stu, but this was only the beginning.

One year after the Woodsboro murders. Sidney and Randy began attending Windsor College in Ohio when a second killing spree began. Randy was killed in the spree and Dewey nearly lost his life apprehending the killer. The killers behind this second spree were revealed to be the mother of Billy Loomis, Nancy Loomis, who was assisted by Mickey Altieri, the best friend of Sidney’s then current boyfriend Derek Feldman. Nancy was the architect and revenge against Sidney for killing her son was the motive and Mickey, who had a maniacal bloodlust for infamy was her disposable sideman. These killers were dispatched by Sidney, Gale and a now exonerated Cotton Weary.

When a third killing spree broke out in Hollywood California claiming the life of Cotton Weary during the production of the film within a film, Stab 3 in the year 2000, Sidney is drawn out of her self imposed isolation to face a third Ghostface killer who is responsible for everything that has transpired over the course of the past five years. When the killer is revealed to be her long lost brother, film director Roman Bridger he too is brought down by Sidney, Dewey, Gale and detective Mark Kincade. The death of this trilogy killer gives Sidney a new beginning of peace.

Portrayed and personified by Neve Campbell, Sidney Prescott is without a doubt one of the most charismatic protagonist you’ve ever seen in a horror story. Though she didn’t seem like much of a fighter when danger first found her, she quickly proved that when the rough got going she was a fighter to the death. On the surface her personality seemed very stoic. It was as if she was avoidantly detached from the people she loved out of fear of losing them to the Ghostface killings, but as she matured she realized that being alone wasn’t the answer to keeping others and herself safe.

She never sought trouble and even made attempts to avoid it, but when it became clear that the trouble had to be dealt with she was all in and well prepared. Fast forward to the present day and the Scream series has been rebooted and reintroduced to a new generation and Sidney still stands as the mentoring figure to the new up and coming characters in the present day stories of the franchise. Created by Kevin Williamson, Sidney is the evolution of the final girl in the 90’s that revitalized the slasher genre, making her the true ultimate final queen of her time.